Years ago I came to the conclusion that using a turkey decoy while hunting on public land is a big mistake.

I had just too many toms spook at the sight of the decoy before they got into range.

I stand by that decision even today.

In fact, it was proven to me once again last week as I harvested a nice tom during Iowa"s first season.

I was hunting public land southeast of Sioux City and had hiked far into the plot and up a deep, wooded ravine. There, I set out my two hen turkey decoys and nestled back against a large tree.

It was early afternoon of the second day and the wind was howling in 35 to 40 mph gusts.

I blasted out a loud series of yelps on my Roost"em box call and then nestled back against the tree and waited.

Putting out the decoys was just a force of habit. I had given little thought to my foregone conclusion that decoys spook hard-pressured birds.

I made three calling sequences in about 20 minutes when I noticed a dark spot in my peripheral vision on my right side. Slowly, I turned my head and there stood a gobbler at about 30 yards.

He was not strutting. He was not puffed up. He had come in without making a sound, no gobble, and he was staring intently at my decoys, tail down and neck outstretched.

That was not a good sign, and I slipped the safety off silently with my left hand and realized my right was on top of the gun, not a good position for a quick throw to my left shoulder and shoot.

The bird let out a loud "cluck," that would have scared me to death had I not known he was there. There was no response from the decoys, of course, and the tom, now alarmed, began walking away.

I waited until his head went behind a tree and then mounted the shotgun and waited. When he stepped clear, I fired and had my first turkey of the season.

This time I bagged the bird even though the decoys had spooked him. Had that turkey come in from the front, where I expected, he would have hung up out of range and faded back into the forest.

I was just plain lucky, this time.

It"s hard to believe that a turkey could be spooked by a decoy, but my theory is that in heavily hunted areas, chances are real good that a mature bird has had bad experiences with decoys.

Jakes often respond to calls in groups of four to five birds and so too, do toms from time to time.

So one bird gets shot and the rest get the fright of their lives. It is something I don"t think they forget.

Then again, perhaps it is just their natural wariness. Maybe it"s because the decoy doesn"t move. Perhaps their eyes are so sharp they recognize it"s a fake bird.

But, for whatever reason, pressured birds on public hunting areas seldom respond well to a decoy.

Hunting with a decoy has just become second nature. Today"s hunter sees a decoy as a necessary part of his turkey hunting paraphernalia. I know I do.

I really can"t think of a turkey hunting video that I"ve seen that didn"t include a tom responding to a decoy.

I"ve done the same on some of the turkey hunting videos I"ve helped produce. There are three things at work here that you should be aware of.

One, hunting videos are seldom filmed on high pressured, public lands.

Two, a turkey decoy manufacturer is probably a sponsor of the show.

Three, a tom turkey responding to a decoy makes better, more interesting footage.

But the fact is, the old turkey hunting masters never used decoys. They simply sat still and called and let the toms come in looking.

When I started hunting turkeys nearly 25 years ago, I never used decoys either.

I hunted by running and gunning, covering huge amounts of ground looking for a tom that would respond to my yelps and gobble.

You seldom have time to put out a decoy when hunting in that manner, and if you do you risk spooking the bird which will either spot you or hear you.

The tom is usually less than 100 yards away, and all you have time to do is sit down and get ready.

Today, I"m more apt to simply sit in a good place and call for an hour or more. I"m not as young as I used to be and running is not as easy as it was 20 plus years ago.

And, I"ve gotten into the habit of putting out decoys, usually two or three.

But, the fact is a tom turkey will come looking for a hen simply on the basis of your calling. And they are incredibly good about zeroing in on where that sound is coming from.

You don"t need a decoy to position the bird for a shot.

Turkey hunting has become so popular today that there are few places where toms don"t see several, if not dozens, of hunters and decoys each season. Even the huge public areas in western Nebraska and South Dakota get tremendous hunting pressure.

Leaving the decoy in the truck just may be the key to your public lands turkey hunting success this year.

Larry Myhre is outdoors editor of the Journal. Reach him at (712) 276-5965 or email at: lfentfish@msn.com